We see a lot of efforts to take history and build a video game out of it. This year alone we’ve already seen the newest chapter in the Dynasty Warriors series. Civilization VII is just around the corner. Ubisoft seems to be in all kinds of development hell with its next Assassin’s Creed game, but that series has always been earnest with the history, too. None of them, however, are as totally committed to the bit as Kingdom Come Deliverance II. This game is downright fastidious with its effort to authentically recreate life, war, and more in 15th century Europe, for both good and ill.
Set against the backdrop of Wenceslaus IV’s capture by Sigismund of Luxembourg, it is this historical context that is the most fascinating part of the game. Whether you’re wandering around the tiny population centres, getting involved with some blacksmithing (or any of the many other jobs you can undertake), or roaming the wilderness, the game takes place during a pivotal moment in medieval European history, and it wants you to be very aware of that.
To quickly break this down: During this period of history, the Holy Roman Empire was experiencing significant internal strife. Wenceslaus IV, the King of Bohemia and former Holy Roman Emperor, found himself deposed and later captured by his half-brother Sigismund, creating a power vacuum that affected nobility and commoners alike. This period preceded the Hussite Wars, a time of religious reformation and social upheaval that would fundamentally reshape Bohemian society.
What this means for you, the player, is that Kingdom Come Deliverance II takes place during a very “anything goes” time of history, where dangerous people roamed the country impetuously, where Game of Thrones-like political intrigue made everyone feel like the entire world was falling down, and where being moral wasn’t necessarily the best way to get by and survive.
In service of this the developers really have gone to every effort to get the most minor of details right. It’s backed by plenty of research too, as you’ll discover if you delve into what can only be called an encyclopaedia that explains the period and everything that you’ll see and experience around you. Where the previous game had a somewhat juvenile sense of humour at times, this sequel comes across as far more committed in having you take it seriously, and that’s for the better too.
The only thing that lets all this authenticity down is the performances themselves. Kingdom Come Deliverance’s actors are not terrible, per se, but they’re also not great. It doesn’t help that the dialogue trees don’t always flow naturally, meaning that for the most part when these characters are talking there’s a stilted artificiality to the progress of the conversation. That’s probably unavoidable given how expansive the developers wanted to make the social interactions, but for a game that otherwise aims so earnestly for total realism and authenticity, this is the Achilles heel.
What is impressive, however, is how it feels like every decision that you make… or don’t make… has real weight. The social simulation aspects represent a significant improvement over its predecessor. The game introduces a nuanced reputation system that mirrors medieval social dynamics. NPCs react to player behaviour with a level of sophistication that creates a convincing recreation of medieval social structures. If you’re skulking about the place, being in spaces you shouldn’t be, then you’re going to be blamed when things start going missing, even if people don’t see you directly committing the crime. Where titles like Skyrim had reputation systems, they were of an artificiality that made them relatively easy to “game.” With Kingdom Come Deliverance II, I genuinely found that I was carefully weighing everything that I did, and even the missions that I agreed to take on, because I didn’t want to undermine the work that I’d done to build up my character’s standing within the community.
Overall, Kingdom Come Deliverance II’s commitment to recreating life in medieval Europe, warts and all, is going to determine whether you love it or not. In comparison to a Witcher 3 or Skyrim, the developers have definitely made decisions that compromise the game’s simple playability. It can be frustratingly obtuse to figure out what you need to do next, and characters come across as very difficult to manipulate, but on the flip side, this does truly feel like a world that you’re inhabiting for a time. I genuinely think that this game should be put in front of history students because there is just so much to unpack here in terms of the way it has handled the adaptation of real history.
Another area where the game has been significantly improved over its predecessor is the combat. It’s by no means my favourite combat system in RPGs, but it’s tolerable. The five-stance combat system authentically recreates the limitations and challenges of medieval warfare, where the weight and momentum of weapons played crucial roles in combat effectiveness. The difficulty in managing multiple opponents reflects the realistic challenges faced by medieval warriors, though this historical accuracy occasionally comes at the cost of gameplay fluidity.
What may or may not throw people is the depth of the skills system. There are dozens of skills in Kingdom Come Deliverance II, and while there is plenty of information made available on what the various skills are, it’s not necessarily apparent what skills you should be focusing on to build the character that you want to. As a consequence, the early part of the game in particular is overly weighted towards spending a lot of time in the menu system carefully reading through everything and then planning out how you’ll build your character.
Visually, the game’s art team was every bit the equal to the writers in the way they tackled the historical representation. The architecture, clothing, and environmental details all demonstrate meticulous research into the period. There is something truly appealing about jumping on the back of your horse and making your way through the countryside. While there isn’t the same sense that anything could happen to you in the wilderness (like in, say, Dragon’s Dogma 2), Kingdom Come Deliverance II ensures that there are enough gorgeous landscapes and wonders to discover around every corner to make exploration a joy.
The big selling point of Kingdom Come Deliverance II is also its biggest potential drawback. You’ve got to be genuinely interested in the history that it depicts to find it immersive. I do wonder whether some people will come in expecting a Skyrim-like or a first-person Witcher experience and end up disappointed with this. It’s not that kind of game. It’s far more grounded and gritty, but if reading Tolstoy or Yoshikawa appeals to you, then Kingdom Come Deliverance II is very much for you.